Comparing Gender Diversity in the Process of Higher-Education Expansion in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK for SDG 5
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1. Gender disparity is an important issue in many countries, especially in those countries with lower GER. For those countries with very high GER exceeding 80% or even 100%, gender parity maybe more tends to be a choice problem in my opinion. therefore, this manuscript is not much valuable to the literature.
2. Correlation is not a causal method, so it cannot be used to answer the most research questions of the study.
3. The authors consider Taiwan as a "country". For example," the number of births in the country has decreased from 328,461 in 1974 to 196,973 in 2016 ", and in the hypothesis "A1 to A4" as” ……among or of the four countries”. This is a political error. It is common sense that Taiwan is not a country but a part of P.R. China，and Taiwan does not have a legitimate seat in the United Nations. So, the authors must correct the errors.
Author Response
- Gender disparity is an important issue in many countries, especially in those countries with lower GER. For those countries with very high GER exceeding 80% or even 100%, gender parity maybe more tends to be a choice problem in my opinion. therefore, this manuscript is not much valuable to the literature.
Response: In this study, we intend to explore approaches to tackle the issues of gender diversity in the process of higher education expansion. The example of tackling gender issues can be extended to other higher education settings.
- Correlation is not a causal method, so it cannot be used to answer the most research questions of the study.
Response: In this study, we faced the series data sets. It is not just a correlation or causal model. This study provides a practical approach to estimating the cross-correlation function (CCF) with the series data sets.
- The authors consider Taiwan as a "country". For example," the number of births in the country has decreased from 328,461 in 1974 to 196,973 in 2016 ", and in the hypothesis "A1 to A4" as” ……among or of the four countries”. This is a political error. It is common sense that Taiwan is not a country but a part of P.R. China，and Taiwan does not have a legitimate seat in the United Nations. So, the authors must correct the errors.
Response: We have corrected the politically sensitive term.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The term used “UNESCO’s SDG4-Education 2030” should be reviewed. The SDG 4 is from the 17 SDGs proposed by UN in the Agenda 2030. UNESCO published several documents related to it. Authors should use “SDG 4”..
The writing should be reviewed, there are some weird sentences, such as “The results reveal a potential problem in the UK when GPI growth might become unlimited with females dominated.”
The figure 1 is confusing. Authors should rethink its presentation.
Authors could explore more the link between SDG 4 and 5 in the paper.
In the results, authors should detail better the figures development. The details are explained in the methods section, but a link should be better presented when presenting the figures and results.
A deeper analysis on countries context could be explored in the debates section.
Author Response
Reviewer’s suggestion and authors’ response
- The term used “UNESCO’s SDG4-Education 2030” should be reviewed. The SDG 4 is from the 17 SDGs proposed by UN in the Agenda 2030. UNESCO published several documents related to it. Authors should use “SDG 4”.
Response: We have revised.
- The writing should be reviewed, there are some weird sentences, such as “The results reveal a potential problem in the UK when GPI growth might become unlimited with females dominated.”
Response: We have revised the weird sentences.
- Figure 1 is confusing. Authors should rethink its presentation.
Response: We have revised Figure 1 to make it clear. (Page 8)
- Authors could explore more the link between SDG 4 and 5 in the paper.
Response: We added information about SDG 4 and SDG 5.
SDG 4 focuses on “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all”, while gender equality is a mission that is present across all 17 SDGs, but it is explicitly addressed in SDG 5 – “achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls”. In achieving this goal, one critical element will be empowering women in, and through, education, including higher education [78]. (Page 15)
- In the results, authors should detail better the figures development. The details are explained in the methods section, but a link should be better presented when presenting the figures and results.
Response: We have revised and enhanced the linkages, for example, “The visualized data transformations are displayed in the result section.” (Page 8); “Finally, the predicted values and future trend of GPI are presented.” (Page 9)
- A deeper analysis on countries context could be explored in the debates section.
Response: We have modified the discussion section and added some interpretations. For example, “Considering the cultural contextual factors, Japan and Korea may demonstrate that social and cultural factors play crucial roles in the process of higher education expansion. As Smith’s argument, the “social” and “cultural” are linked to each other in the process of higher education participation [38].” (Page 16-17)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Interesting study on gender inequality in higher education using fitted quantitative methods.
Some suggestions for improvement: More current data on access to higher education should be included (32% in 2012?). UNESCO has published more recent papers on gender inequality in access to education (e.g. Gender Equality in Education).
Although the theories presented explain the expansion of higher education from a macro-economic approach, some of the differential aspects of the situation of men and women in higher education, such as the impact the relationship between fields of study and labor market outcomes, should be further explored. References to some explanatory personal variables such as expectations, interests or motivations should be included. These variables also explain the differences in access to higher education between men and women.
Although the research questions are formulated, the objectives should be formulated after the Literature Review.
Correct methodology section
Results: Confirm this sentence: "Figure 3 reveals that Korea's GER has dropped significantly in the earlier year of 21th century". The country where there is a decline in the growth rate is the UK.
The discussion points out that the UK has undergone a steady expansion process; however, the stagnation in the entry rate (see Figure 3) from 2000 onwards should be better explained.
More consideration should be given to the different access profiles according to the different fields of study, although reference is made to this aspect in the limitations.
Author Response
Reviewer’s suggestion and authors’ response
- Interesting study on gender inequality in higher education using fitted quantitative methods.
Response: Thanks.
- Some suggestions for improvement: More current data on access to higher education should be included (32% in 2012?). UNESCO has published more recent papers on gender inequality in access to education (e.g. Gender Equality in Education).
Response: We have added new information “The GER in tertiary education for males increased from 19% to 36%, while that for females rose from 19% to 41%. Regarding study levels, in 2019, women accounted for 46% of all doctoral level students, up from 41% in 2001. However, this figure drops to 29% in low-income countries [3].” (Page 1)
- Although the theories presented explain the expansion of higher education from a macro-economic approach, some of the differential aspects of the situation of men and women in higher education, such as the impact the relationship between fields of study and labor market outcomes, should be further explored. References to some explanatory personal variables such as expectations, interests or motivations should be included. These variables also explain the differences in access to higher education between men and women.
Response: We have added related interpretations in the limitation section, see page 16.
- Although the research questions are formulated, the objectives should be formulated after the Literature Review.
Response: We added research hypotheses at the end of the Literature Review section. See page 6.
“2.5 Research Hypotheses
Considering the influential factors in the higher education context, this study developed the following assumptions:
H1: The growth of GDP per capita impacts the higher education expansion of the four countries.
H2: Both GER and GPI have high cross relationships among these target countries.
H3: The GPI has been changed in the different expansion stages of the target countries.
H4: The development of GPI reflects the trend in 2030 regardless of the culture of the countries.”
- Correct methodology section
Response: Thanks!
- Results: Confirm this sentence: "Figure 3 reveals that Korea's GER has dropped significantly in the earlier year of 21st century". The country where there is a decline in the growth rate is the UK.
Response: Thanks. We replaced “Korea’s “with “the UK’s”.
- The discussion points out that the UK has undergone a steady expansion process; however, the stagnation in the entry rate (see Figure 3) from 2000 onwards should be better explained.
Response: We revised the sentence: for example, “It is apparent that Korea and Taiwan have experienced explosive expansion, whereas Japan showed steady expansion when the systems moved to the mass and universal stage according to Trow’s classification [14].”
- More consideration should be given to the different access profiles according to the different fields of study, although reference is made to this aspect in the limitations.
Response: We have added some limitations in this study, for example, “the related major fields for males and females, the relationship between fields of study and labor market outcomes”. “Considering current limitations, further studies may explore personal variables such as expectations, interests, or motivations that could enrich the knowledge of this field. (page 17)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
First, the authors did not change the description of the four "countries" in the research questions and research hypotheses, and still used the word "country". These are totally wrong.
Secondly, the author raises several research questions, but none of them is to compare gender disparity in several regions. What is the significance of comparison?
Thirdly, the author has not established a good theoretical framework to analyze the relationship between the expansion of higher education and gender differences, nor has there been any theoretical support to analyze the results of the comparison of gender disparity in the four regions, resulting in the lack of theoretical contribution to the literature, that is, the problem of data driven.
Last, the main conclusions should be presented clearly in the abstract and conclusion sections, according to the research questions of the study
Author Response
Reviewer’s suggestions and responses
First, the authors did not change the description of the four "countries" in the research questions and hypotheses and still used the word "country". These are totally wrong.
Response: We have provided an appropriate word to address the research questions and hypotheses.
Second, the author raises several research questions, but none of them is to compare gender disparity in several regions. What is the significance of comparison?
Response: We revised RQ3 to fit the comparison purpose as follows.
RQ3. What patterns in gender diversity trends in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK are expected with a comparison?
This study addressed the following significance of comparison in the conclusion section:
“This study demonstrated that the higher education expansion phenomenon and gender diversity in mass and universal systems can be detected by the trend analysis with GDP per capita, GER, and GPI in different settings (RQ3). The expanded higher education systems in Taiwan and the UK provide two different gender diversity patterns. Taiwan’s expanded higher education has become an equally accessible system for both males and females. However, the UK’s system shows different effects in the expanding process.” (Page 16)
Third, the author has not established a good theoretical framework to analyze the relationship between the expansion of higher education and gender differences, nor has there been any theoretical support to analyze the results of the comparison of gender disparity in the four regions, resulting in the lack of theoretical contribution to the literature, that is, the problem of data driven.
Response: In the literature review section, we have addressed related theories on the expansion (2.1 Related Theories on Higher Education Expansion) and theories on gender diversity (2.2 Related Theories on Gender Participating in Higher Education). (Page 3-4); For example, “higher education expansion can be interpreted from economic, social, cultural and institutional viewpoints” (Page 3); “when gender parity has been considered in higher education expansion, the critical mass [36-38] and socio-cultural barriers theories” can be used to address this issue. (Page 4)We have also enhanced the research framework's interpretation to link the theories and evidence. (Page 6); The discussion section has been revised to make it more coherent (Page 15).
Last, the main conclusions should be presented clearly in the abstract and conclusion sections, according to the research questions of the study.
Response: Thanks for the comments, we have added the main findings in the abstract and conclusion section. For example, “Considering the economic factor impacting the higher education expansion, this study found the series of GDP per capita impacted GER in emerging economies, for example in Korea and Taiwan. Both the growth of GDP per capita and the extension of GER have changed the patterns of GPI. The gap in gender diversity has shown diminishing in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. While the UK could be a unique case in that females have become a critical mass in higher education. The results of comparison suggest that the gender disparity will continue in Japan, Korea, and the UK in the future.” (Abstract)
- Conclusions
“There are two significant GER growth patterns among the four regions: the GER in Korea and Taiwan is over 80%, while in Japan and the UK, it is only at a level of 60% (RQ1). Both growth in GDP per capita and extension of GER have changed the patterns of GPI. This study found higher education expansion will transform gender diversity patterns (RQ2). For example, the gap in gender diversity has been shown to diminish in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. This study demonstrated that the higher education expansion phenomenon and gender diversity in mass and universal systems can be detected by the trend analysis with GDP per capita, GER, and GPI in different settings (RQ3). The expanded higher education systems in Taiwan and the UK provide two different gender diversity patterns. Taiwan’s expanded higher education has become an equally accessible system for both males and females. However, the UK’s system shows different effects in the expanding process.” …. (Page 16)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors addressed the comments from the previous revision.
Author Response
Reviewer’s comments and suggestions:
The authors addressed the comments from the previous revision.
Response: Thanks for your valuable comments and suggestions. All of your comments and suggestions for this manuscript have been revised.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 3
Reviewer 1 Report
This version is better, and the authors revised those "countries" into regions in the sections of research questions and hypothesis. However, several words of "countries" related to Taiwan in the manuscript still exist, which should be re-checked and revised.
Author Response
Reviewer’s suggestions and responses:
This version is better, and the authors revised those "countries" into regions in the sections of research questions and hypothesis. However, several words of "countries" related to Taiwan in the manuscript still exist, which should be re-checked and revised.
Responses: We have revised the related texts: countries à regions;
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 4
Reviewer 1 Report
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